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A Piece of Paper

Last week in a small town 25 miles north of Raleigh, North Carolina a woman was shot in the head by her ex-boyfriend. Sad to say but somewhat typical in domestic abuse cases. The sadder part to me was the woman was armed and it did not need to happen the way it did had she only spent some time on LEARNING to use the tool she selected and learned about the tactics of armed self-defense.

In NC there is a minimal training requirement to obtain a CCW, eight hours with some live fire. Certainly not training but enough to provide political cover should something go awry as it did this time. The courts and Law Enforcement were fully aware of the dangers the woman faced in fact the woman’s family said she spent hours on the phone talking with both parties in the Legal System that may have been better spent training and practicing. The court of course provided her with a bullet proof protection called a Domestic Violence Protective Order. We involved in armed self-defense call it a piece of paper.

The Legal System provided the woman with another piece of paper, a North Carolina Concealed Handgun Permit. Again just another piece of paper.

The woman went out and obtained two handguns.

While certainly at this point the majority of people believe the woman should be able to defend herself but they were wrong. When attacked the woman, who had little to no skills with the gun much less a solid defensive mindset, pulled out her little gun and fired one shot striking her assailant in the leg muscle and then the gun failed to eject because no one had taught her how to clear a malfunction. The woman ran with the assailant in pursuit ending it with a bullet to her head.

This is wrong on so many levels and it could have been perhaps avoided or perhaps she could have escaped and if need be been able to get the gun back into the fight quickly had there been a more serious level of training.

Just to be clear, a restraining order cannot protect you, a Concealed Carry permit cannot protect you, and even a gun cannot protect you. Only you can protect you and your loved ones and the only way that can be accomplished is to learn. You have to have the right mindset, you have to have the best skills and a reliable tool.

It all starts with the mind, that you will not be a victim and you will make it a priority in your life to ensure you have the skills needed should you be called on to defend yourself or others.

Minimal training is not training. It should start with taking a beginning class, learning about the gun, sampling many guns so you can make an informed purchase.

After your introduction to handguns and your purchase you should practice with the gun so you can manipulate it without any conscious thought through the use of dry practice, then go measure your ability with a narrow focused course of live fire.

At this point you are ready to take a class that will give you the needed skills both in mind and in armed self-defense and go further with obtaining your permit. Please, please, please . . . do not just take the minimum required by law. Do not assume because you were in the military 20 years ago you know what to do, nor assume because you punch holes in paper at the range monthly that you are now capable of defending your life.

Program your mind for success, take training regularly, dry practice daily, shoot and measure the effectiveness of your practice . . . and repeat. Only you can defend yourself and your loved ones and it takes more than a piece of paper.